Nerdfame, Part II: Stalking is a form of flattery

In addition to being elitist and cynical, I'm a gushing evangelist for things I have recently encountered and love. Over the years this has included notables such as Craigslist, Heifer Project International, Alaska, Out of the Closet Thrift Store, Queer as Folk, and Frontier House. Books are frequently on the short list for things I'm peddling. The summer before last that book was Julia Glass' first novel Three Junes. It was the first book I absolutely loved in a long, long time. Hoping to find her agent, I got to googling Ms. Glass and eventually came up with her home address in New York. I penned her an effusive note about her great book. She found a hardcover consumer for life when she wrote me back-- in blue marker!

This summer I read Discovering Statistics: SPSS for Windows by Andy Field. It's a funny little book about an unfunny statistical package for social sciences. It's really thorough and explains complicated things simply, with clear acknowledgement that the reader would rather be at the beach than in front of a computer screen. So this summer found me telling anyone who would listen to buy this book for themselves or for their Research Assistants. As a familiar feeling of gratitude began to well up inside, I googled the (young and British) Dr. Field so I could email him about his delightful book. Guess what, readers -- Andy Field is not your average measurement expert and research psychologist -- Andy Field is hot! Let this be a lesson to anyone considering graduate studies in psychology -- don't underestimate the benefits of getting your graduate training abroad, at, oh, say the University of Sussex at Brighton... Anyway, I emailed him a typical gushing email about loving his book. He sent a gracious reply thanking me for the positive feedback. The best part was when he said my email was "lovely" -- surely this could ensure a good mood for at least 16 hours, no?